Articles | Volume 15, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-225-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-225-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
18 Jan 2022
Research article |
| 18 Jan 2022
| 18 Jan 2022
Estimating oil sands emissions using horizontal path-integrated column measurements
Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc, Lexington, Massachusetts, 02421, USA
T. Scott Zaccheo
Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc, Lexington, Massachusetts, 02421, USA
Jeremy Dobler
Spectral Sensor Solutions, LLC, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 46818, USA
Nathan Blume
Spectral Sensor Solutions, LLC, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 46818, USA
Related authors
Nathan Blume, Timothy G. Pernini, Jeremy T. Dobler, T. Scott Zaccheo, Doug McGregor, and Clay Bell
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.31223/X5294N, https://doi.org/10.31223/X5294N, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
We assess the ability of the GreenLITE™ emissions monitoring system to detect, localize, and quantify methane emissions and evaluate its performance using a DOE-supported Continuous Monitoring Protocol. GreenLITE™ detected emission rates as low as 0.22 kg/h with a 90 % detection limit of 0.89 kg/h and wind-normalized detection limit of 0.44 (kg/h)/(m/s).
T. Scott Zaccheo, Nathan Blume, Timothy Pernini, Jeremy Dobler, and Jinghui Lian
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5791–5800, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5791-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5791-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The Greenhouse gas Laser Imaging Tomography Experiment (GreenLITE™) trace gas measurement system provides high-precision, long-path measurements of atmospheric trace gases including CO2 and CH4 over extended (0.04 km2–25 km2) areas of interest. This work provides a brief overview of the system design, a description of a newly developed bias-correction approach and the results as applied to data collected in Paris, France, over a 1-year period spanning November 2015 to December 2016.
Zachary H. Levine, Adam L. Pintar, Jeremy T. Dobler, Nathan Blume, Michael Braun, T. Scott Zaccheo, and Timothy G. Pernini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1627–1636, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1627-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1627-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
People release great quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – enough to cause serious problems for human, animal, and plant life. Can we keep the carbon dioxide in storage underground? To make sure the storage sites do not leak, we explore a system of monitoring using lasers. We find that variable wind actually makes it easier to identify leaks against the large background concentration and other point sources because they do not shift with the wind the way the leak does.
Nathan Blume, Timothy G. Pernini, Jeremy T. Dobler, T. Scott Zaccheo, Doug McGregor, and Clay Bell
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.31223/X5294N, https://doi.org/10.31223/X5294N, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
We assess the ability of the GreenLITE™ emissions monitoring system to detect, localize, and quantify methane emissions and evaluate its performance using a DOE-supported Continuous Monitoring Protocol. GreenLITE™ detected emission rates as low as 0.22 kg/h with a 90 % detection limit of 0.89 kg/h and wind-normalized detection limit of 0.44 (kg/h)/(m/s).
David F. Baker, Emily Bell, Kenneth J. Davis, Joel F. Campbell, Bing Lin, and Jeremy Dobler
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 649–668, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-649-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-649-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The OCO-2 satellite measures many closely spaced column-averaged CO2 values around its orbit. To give these data proper weight in flux inversions, their error correlations must be accounted for. Here we lay out a 1-D error model with correlations that die out exponentially along-track to do so. A correlation length scale of ∼20 km is derived from column CO2 measurements from an airborne lidar flown underneath OCO-2 for use in this model. The model's performance is compared to previous ones.
Jinghui Lian, François-Marie Bréon, Grégoire Broquet, T. Scott Zaccheo, Jeremy Dobler, Michel Ramonet, Johannes Staufer, Diego Santaren, Irène Xueref-Remy, and Philippe Ciais
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 13809–13825, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13809-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13809-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
CO2 emissions within urban areas impact nearby and downwind concentrations. A different system, based on bi-wavelength laser measurements, has been deployed over Paris. It samples CO2 concentrations along horizontal lines, between a transceiver and a reflector. In this paper, we analyze the measurements provided by this system, together with the more classical in situ sampling and high-resolution modeling. We focus on the temporal and spatial variability of atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
T. Scott Zaccheo, Nathan Blume, Timothy Pernini, Jeremy Dobler, and Jinghui Lian
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5791–5800, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5791-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5791-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The Greenhouse gas Laser Imaging Tomography Experiment (GreenLITE™) trace gas measurement system provides high-precision, long-path measurements of atmospheric trace gases including CO2 and CH4 over extended (0.04 km2–25 km2) areas of interest. This work provides a brief overview of the system design, a description of a newly developed bias-correction approach and the results as applied to data collected in Paris, France, over a 1-year period spanning November 2015 to December 2016.
Zachary H. Levine, Adam L. Pintar, Jeremy T. Dobler, Nathan Blume, Michael Braun, T. Scott Zaccheo, and Timothy G. Pernini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1627–1636, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1627-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1627-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
People release great quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – enough to cause serious problems for human, animal, and plant life. Can we keep the carbon dioxide in storage underground? To make sure the storage sites do not leak, we explore a system of monitoring using lasers. We find that variable wind actually makes it easier to identify leaks against the large background concentration and other point sources because they do not shift with the wind the way the leak does.
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Validation and Intercomparisons
Methodology and uncertainty estimation for measurements of methane leakage in a manufactured house
Alternate materials for the capture and quantification of gaseous oxidized mercury in the atmosphere
Lower-cost eddy covariance for CO2 and H2O fluxes over grassland and agroforestry
Towards a high quality in-situ observation network for oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) in Europe: transferring traceability to the International System of Units (SI) to the field
Evaluation of optimized flux chamber design for measurement of ammonia emission after field application of slurry with full-scale farm machinery
Preparation of low-concentration H2 test gas mixtures in ambient air for calibration of H2 sensors
Pico-Light H2O: intercomparison of in situ water vapour measurements during the AsA 2022 campaign
Mobile air quality monitoring and comparison to fixed monitoring sites for instrument performance assessment
Validation of formaldehyde products from three satellite retrievals (OMI SAO, OMPS-NPP SAO, and OMI BIRA) in the marine atmosphere with four seasons of ATom aircraft observations
Intercomparison of eddy-covariance software for urban tall-tower sites
Assessment of current methane emission quantification techniques for natural gas midstream applications
Performance assessment of state-of-the-art and novel methods for remote compliance monitoring of sulfur emissions from shipping
Intercomparison of detection and quantification methods for methane emissions from the natural gas distribution network in Hamburg, Germany
Comparison of photoacoustic spectroscopy and cavity ring-down spectroscopy for ambient methane monitoring at Hohenpeißenberg
Comparison of atmospheric CO, CO2 and CH4 measurements at the Schneefernerhaus and the mountain ridge at Zugspitze
Intercomparison of commercial analyzers for atmospheric ethane and methane observations
Real-time measurement of phase partitioning of organic compounds using a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer coupled to a CHARON inlet
A quantitative comparison of methods used to measure smaller methane emissions typically observed from superannuated oil and gas infrastructure
Comparing airborne algorithms for greenhouse gas flux measurements over the Alberta oil sands
Characterization of inexpensive metal oxide sensor performance for trace methane detection
Intercomparison of upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric water vapor measurements over the Asian Summer Monsoon during the StratoClim campaign
Air pollution measurement errors: is your data fit for purpose?
Performance characterization of low-cost air quality sensors for off-grid deployment in rural Malawi
Comment on “Comparison of ozone measurement methods in biomass burning smoke: an evaluation under field and laboratory conditions” by Long et al. (2021)
Homogenization of the Observatoire de Haute Provence electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozonesonde data record: comparison with lidar and satellite observations
Long-term behavior and stability of calibration models for NO and NO2 low-cost sensors
Controlled-release experiment to investigate uncertainties in UAV-based emission quantification for methane point sources
Ozone formation sensitivity study using machine learning coupled with the reactivity of volatile organic compound species
Evaluating uncertainty in sensor networks for urban air pollution insights
Global evaluation of the precipitable-water-vapor product from MERSI-II (Medium Resolution Spectral Imager) on board the Fengyun-3D satellite
Field testing two flux footprint models
Validation of a new cavity ring-down spectrometer for measuring tropospheric gaseous hydrogen chloride
Comparison of formaldehyde measurements by Hantzsch, CRDS and DOAS in the SAPHIR chamber
A field intercomparison of three passive air samplers for gaseous mercury in ambient air
Beef cattle methane emissions measured with tracer-ratio and inverse dispersion modelling techniques
Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods
Performance of open-path GasFinder3 devices for CH4 concentration measurements close to ambient levels
Water vapor density and turbulent fluxes from three generations of infrared gas analyzers
Quantifying fugitive gas emissions from an oil sands tailings pond with open-path Fourier transform infrared measurements
Robust statistical calibration and characterization of portable low-cost air quality monitoring sensors to quantify real-time O3 and NO2 concentrations in diverse environments
A miniature Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) for real-driving monitoring of motorcycles
In situ measurement of CO2 and CH4 from aircraft over northeast China and comparison with OCO-2 data
Mobile-platform measurement of air pollutant concentrations in California: performance assessment, statistical methods for evaluating spatial variations, and spatial representativeness
Continuous methane concentration measurements at the Greenland ice sheet–atmosphere interface using a low-cost, low-power metal oxide sensor system
The development of the Atmospheric Measurements by Ultra-Light Spectrometer (AMULSE) greenhouse gas profiling system and application for satellite retrieval validation
Atmospheric observations of the water vapour continuum in the near-infrared windows between 2500 and 6600 cm−1
Intercomparison study of atmospheric 222Rn and 222Rn progeny monitors
Sources of error in open-path FTIR measurements of N2O and CO2 emitted from agricultural fields
Constraining the accuracy of flux estimates using OTM 33A
Evaluating the measurement interference of wet rotating-denuder–ion chromatography in measuring atmospheric HONO in a highly polluted area
Anna Karion, Michael F. Link, Rileigh Robertson, Tyler Boyle, and Dustin Poppendieck
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 7065–7075, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7065-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7065-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane leaks into houses that use natural gas from appliances, pipes, and fittings. We measured methane emitted from a manufactured house under different ventilation conditions using indoor and outdoor concentration measurements. We injected methane at prescribed rates into the house and then measured the emissions using our method. We report the error in the calculation based on these tests. We also describe the method and provide guidance on conducting this type of experiment.
Livia Lown, Sarrah M. Dunham-Cheatham, Seth N. Lyman, and Mae S. Gustin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6397–6413, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6397-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6397-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
New sorbent materials are needed to preconcentrate atmospheric oxidized mercury for analysis by developing mass spectrometry methods. Chitosan, α-Al2O3, and γ-Al2O3 were tested for quantitative gaseous oxidized mercury sorption in ambient air under laboratory and field conditions. Although these materials sorbed gaseous oxidized mercury without sorbing elemental mercury in the laboratory, less oxidized mercury was recovered from these materials compared to cation exchange membranes in the field.
Justus G. V. van Ramshorst, Alexander Knohl, José Ángel Callejas-Rodelas, Robert Clement, Timothy C. Hill, Lukas Siebicke, and Christian Markwitz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6047–6071, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6047-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this work we present experimental field results of a lower-cost eddy covariance (LC-EC) system, which can measure the ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide and water vapour with the atmosphere. During three field campaigns on a grassland and agroforestry grassland, we compared the LC-EC with a conventional eddy covariance (CON-EC) system. Our results show that LC-EC has the potential to measure EC fluxes at only approximately 25 % of the cost of a CON-EC system.
Maitane Iturrate-Garcia, Thérèse Salameh, Paul Schlauri, Annarita Baldan, Martin K. Vollmer, Evdokia Stratigou, Sebastian Dusanter, Jianrong Li, Stefan Persijn, Anja Claude, Rupert Holzinger, Christophe Sutour, Tatiana Macé, Yasin Elshorbany, Andreas Ackermann, Céline Pascale, and Stefan Reimann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2236, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2236, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate and comparable measurements of oxygenated organic compounds (OVOCs) are crucial to assess tropospheric ozone burdens and trends. However, monitoring of many OVOCs remains challenging because of their low atmospheric abundance and lack of stable and traceable calibration standards. This research describes the calibration standards developed for selected OVOCs at low amount of substance fractions (<100 nmol mol-1) to transfer traceability to the international system of units to the field.
Johanna Pedersen, Sasha D. Hafner, Andreas Pacholski, Valthor I. Karlsson, Li Rong, Rodrigo Labouriau, and Jesper N. Kamp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4493–4505, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4493-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4493-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Field-applied animal slurry is a significant source of NH3 emission. A new system of dynamic flux chambers for NH3 measurements was developed and validated using three field trials in order to assess the variability after application with a trailing hose at different scales: manual (handheld) application, a 3 m slurry boom, and a 30 m slurry boom. The system facilitates NH3 emission measurement with replication after both manual and farm-scale slurry application with relatively high precision.
Niklas Karbach, Lisa Höhler, Peter Hoor, Heiko Bozem, Nicole Bobrowski, and Thorsten Hoffmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4081–4086, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4081-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4081-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The system presented here can accurately generate and reproduce a stable flow of gas mixtures of known concentrations over several days using ambient air as a dilution medium. In combination with the small size and low weight of the system, this enables the calibration of hydrogen sensors in the field, reducing the influence of matrix effects on the accuracy of the sensor. The system is inexpensive to assemble and easy to maintain, which is the key to reliable measurement results.
Mélanie Ghysels, Georges Durry, Nadir Amarouche, Dale Hurst, Emrys Hall, Kensy Xiong, Jean-Charles Dupont, Jean-Christophe Samake, Fabien Frérot, Raghed Bejjani, and Emmanuel D. Riviere
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3495–3513, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3495-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A tunable diode laser hygrometer, “Pico-Light H2O”, is presented and its performances are evaluated during the AsA 2022 balloon-borne intercomparison campaign from Aire-sur-l'Adour (France) in September 2022. A total of 15 balloons were launched within the framework of the EU-funded HEMERA project. Pico-Light H2O has been compared in situ with the NOAA Frost Point Hygrometer in the upper troposphere and stratosphere, as well as with meteorological sondes (iMet-4 and M20) in the troposphere.
Andrew R. Whitehill, Melissa Lunden, Brian LaFranchi, Surender Kaushik, and Paul A. Solomon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2991–3009, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2991-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2991-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present an analysis from two large-scale mobile air quality monitoring campaigns in Colorado and California. We compare mobile measurements of air quality to measurements from nearby regulatory sites. The goal of this paper is to explore how fixed-site measurements (such as regulatory site measurements) can be used for ongoing instrument performance assessment of mobile monitoring platforms over extended measurement campaigns.
Jin Liao, Glenn M. Wolfe, Alex E. Kotsakis, Julie M. Nicely, Jason M. St. Clair, Thomas F. Hanisco, Gonzalo Gonzalez Abad, Caroline R. Nowlan, Zolal Ayazpour, Isabelle De Smedt, Eric C. Apel, and Rebecca S. Hornbrook
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-72, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-72, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
Validation of satellite HCHO over the remote marine regions is relatively few and modeled HCHO in these regions is usually added as a global satellite HCHO background. This paper intercompares three satellite HCHO retrievals and validates them against in situ observations from the NASA ATom mission. All retrievals are correlated with ATom integrated columns over remote oceans, with OMI SAO (v004) showing the best agreement. A persistent low bias is found in all retrievals at high latitudes.
Changxing Lan, Matthias Mauder, Stavros Stagakis, Benjamin Loubet, Claudio D'Onofrio, Stefan Metzger, David Durden, and Pedro-Henrique Herig-Coimbra
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2649–2669, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2649-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2649-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using eddy-covariance systems deployed in three cities, we aimed to elucidate the sources of discrepancies in flux estimations from different software packages. One crucial finding is the impact of low-frequency spectral loss corrections on tall-tower flux estimations. Our findings emphasize the significance of a standardized measurement setup and consistent postprocessing configurations in minimizing the systematic flux uncertainty resulting from the usage of different software packages.
Yunsong Liu, Jean-Daniel Paris, Gregoire Broquet, Violeta Bescós Roy, Tania Meixus Fernandez, Rasmus Andersen, Andrés Russu Berlanga, Emil Christensen, Yann Courtois, Sebastian Dominok, Corentin Dussenne, Travis Eckert, Andrew Finlayson, Aurora Fernández de la Fuente, Catlin Gunn, Ram Hashmonay, Juliano Grigoleto Hayashi, Jonathan Helmore, Soeren Honsel, Fabrizio Innocenti, Matti Irjala, Torgrim Log, Cristina Lopez, Francisco Cortés Martínez, Jonathan Martinez, Adrien Massardier, Helle Gottschalk Nygaard, Paula Agregan Reboredo, Elodie Rousset, Axel Scherello, Matthias Ulbricht, Damien Weidmann, Oliver Williams, Nigel Yarrow, Murès Zarea, Robert Ziegler, Jean Sciare, Mihalis Vrekoussis, and Philippe Bousquet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1633–1649, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1633-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1633-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the performance of 10 methane emission quantification techniques in a blind controlled-release experiment at an inerted natural gas compressor station. We reported their respective strengths, weaknesses, and potential complementarity depending on the emission rates and atmospheric conditions. Additionally, we assess the dependence of emission quantification performance on key parameters such as wind speed, deployment constraints, and measurement duration.
Jörg Beecken, Andreas Weigelt, Simone Griesel, Johan Mellqvist, Alexander V. Conde Jacobo, Daniëlle van Dinther, Jan Duyzer, Jon Knudsen, Bettina Knudsen, and Leonidas Ntziachristos
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5883–5895, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5883-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5883-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Air pollution from shipping is a debated topic in science and politics. We compare different monitoring systems currently used in different European countries for the enforcement of emission limits regarding air pollution from ships according to regulation. The system performances were individually assessed in the field by comparison with true values. Non-compliant vessels with actual fuel sulfur contents > 0.15–0.19 % Sm/m can be detected by the compared systems with 95 % confidence.
Hossein Maazallahi, Antonio Delre, Charlotte Scheutz, Anders M. Fredenslund, Stefan Schwietzke, Hugo Denier van der Gon, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5051–5073, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5051-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5051-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Measurement methods are increasingly deployed to verify reported methane emissions of gas leaks. This study describes unique advantages and limitations of three methods. Two methods are rapidly deployed, but uncertainties and biases exist for some leak locations. In contrast, the suction method could accurately determine leak rates in principle. However, this method, which provides data for the German emission inventory, creates an overall low bias in our study due to non-random site selection.
Max Müller, Stefan Weigl, Jennifer Müller-Williams, Matthias Lindauer, Thomas Rück, Simon Jobst, Rudolf Bierl, and Frank-Michael Matysik
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4263–4270, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4263-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4263-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Over a period of 5 d, a photoacoustic methane sensor was compared with a Picarro cavity ring-down (G2301) spectrometer. Both devices measured the ambient methane concentration at the meteorological observatory Hohenpeißenberg. Cross-sensitivities on the photoacoustic signal, due to fluctuating ambient humidity, were compensated by applying the CoNRad algorithm. The results show that photoacoustic sensors have the potential for accurate and precise greenhouse gas monitoring.
Antje Hoheisel, Cedric Couret, Bryan Hellack, and Martina Schmidt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2399–2413, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2399-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2399-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
High-precision CO2, CH4 and CO measurements have been carried out at Zugspitze for decades. New technologies make it possible to analyse these gases with high temporal resolution. This allows the detection of local pollution. To this end, measurements have been performed on the mountain ridge (ZGR) and are compared to routine measurements at the Schneefernerhaus (ZSF). Careful manual flagging of pollution events in the ZSF data leads to consistency with the little influenced ZGR time series.
Róisín Commane, Andrew Hallward-Driemeier, and Lee T. Murray
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1431–1441, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1431-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1431-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Methane / ethane ratios can be used to identify and partition the different sources of methane, especially in areas with natural gas mixed with biogenic methane emissions, such as cities. We tested three commercially available laser-based analyzers for sensitivity, precision, size, power requirement, ease of use on mobile platforms, and expertise needed to operate the instrument, and we make recommendations for use in various situations.
Yarong Peng, Hongli Wang, Yaqin Gao, Shengao Jing, Shuhui Zhu, Dandan Huang, Peizhi Hao, Shengrong Lou, Tiantao Cheng, Cheng Huang, and Xuan Zhang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 15–28, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-15-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-15-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This work examined the phase partitioning behaviors of organic compounds at hourly resolution in ambient conditions with the use of the CHemical Analysis of aeRosols ONline (CHARON) inlet coupled to a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS). Properly accounting for the neutral losses of small moieties during the molecular feature extraction from PTR mass spectra could significantly reduce uncertainties associated with the gas–particle partitioning measurements.
Stuart N. Riddick, Riley Ancona, Mercy Mbua, Clay S. Bell, Aidan Duggan, Timothy L. Vaughn, Kristine Bennett, and Daniel J. Zimmerle
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6285–6296, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6285-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6285-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This describes controlled release experiments at the METEC facility in Fort Collins, USA, that investigates the accuracy and precision of five methods commonly used to measure methane emissions. Methods include static/dynamic chambers, hi flow sampling, a backward Lagrangian stochastic method, and a Gaussian plume method. This is the first time that methods for measuring CH4 emissions from point sources less than 200 g CH4 h−1 have been quantitively assessed against references and each other.
Broghan M. Erland, Cristen Adams, Andrea Darlington, Mackenzie L. Smith, Andrew K. Thorpe, Gregory R. Wentworth, Steve Conley, John Liggio, Shao-Meng Li, Charles E. Miller, and John A. Gamon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5841–5859, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5841-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5841-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Accurately estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is essential to reaching net-zero goals to combat the climate crisis. Airborne box-flights are ideal for assessing regional GHG emissions, as they can attain small error. We compare two box-flight algorithms and found they produce similar results, but daily variability must be considered when deriving emissions inventories. Increasing the consistency and agreement between airborne methods moves us closer to achieving more accurate estimates.
Daniel Furuta, Tofigh Sayahi, Jinsheng Li, Bruce Wilson, Albert A. Presto, and Jiayu Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5117–5128, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5117-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5117-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is a major greenhouse gas and contributor to climate change with various human-caused and natural sources. Currently, atmospheric methane is expensive to sense. We investigate repurposing cheap methane safety sensors for atmospheric sensing, finding several promising sensors and identifying some of the challenges in this approach. This work will help in developing inexpensive sensor networks for methane monitoring, which will aid in reducing methane leaks and emissions.
Clare E. Singer, Benjamin W. Clouser, Sergey M. Khaykin, Martina Krämer, Francesco Cairo, Thomas Peter, Alexey Lykov, Christian Rolf, Nicole Spelten, Armin Afchine, Simone Brunamonti, and Elisabeth J. Moyer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4767–4783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4767-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4767-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In situ measurements of water vapor in the upper troposphere are necessary to study cloud formation and hydration of the stratosphere but challenging due to cold–dry conditions. We compare measurements from three water vapor instruments from the StratoClim campaign in 2017. In clear sky (clouds), point-by-point differences were <1.5±8 % (<1±8 %). This excellent agreement allows detection of fine-scale structures required to understand the impact of convection on stratospheric water vapor.
Sebastian Diez, Stuart E. Lacy, Thomas J. Bannan, Michael Flynn, Tom Gardiner, David Harrison, Nicholas Marsden, Nicholas A. Martin, Katie Read, and Pete M. Edwards
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4091–4105, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4091-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4091-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Regardless of the cost of the measuring instrument, there are no perfect measurements. For this reason, we compare the quality of the information provided by cheap devices when they are used to measure air pollutants and we try to emphasise that before judging the potential usefulness of the devices, the user must specify his own needs. Since commonly used performance indices/metrics can be misleading in qualifying this, we propose complementary visual analysis to the more commonly used metrics.
Ashley S. Bittner, Eben S. Cross, David H. Hagan, Carl Malings, Eric Lipsky, and Andrew P. Grieshop
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3353–3376, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3353-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3353-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present findings from a 1-year pilot deployment of low-cost integrated air quality sensor packages in rural Malawi using calibration models developed during collocation with US regulatory monitors. We compare the results with data from remote sensing products and previous field studies. We conclude that while the remote calibration approach can help extract useful data, great care is needed when assessing low-cost sensor data collected in regions without reference instrumentation.
Noah Bernays, Daniel A. Jaffe, Irina Petropavlovskikh, and Peter Effertz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3189–3192, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3189-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3189-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone is an important pollutant that impacts millions of people worldwide. It is therefore important to ensure accurate measurements. A recent surge in wildfire activity in the USA has resulted in significant enhancements in ozone concentration. However given the nature of wildfire smoke, there are questions about our ability to accurately measure ozone. In this comment, we discuss possible biases in the UV measurements of ozone in the presence of smoke.
Gérard Ancellet, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Herman G. J. Smit, Ryan M. Stauffer, Roeland Van Malderen, Renaud Bodichon, and Andrea Pazmiño
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3105–3120, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3105-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3105-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The 1991–2021 Observatoire de Haute Provence electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozonesonde data have been homogenized according to the recommendations of the Ozonesonde Data Quality Assessment panel. Comparisons with ground-based instruments also measuring ozone at the same station (lidar, surface measurements) and with colocated satellite observations show the benefits of this homogenization. Remaining differences between ECC and other observations in the stratosphere are also discussed.
Horim Kim, Michael Müller, Stephan Henne, and Christoph Hüglin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2979–2992, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2979-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2979-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, the performance of electrochemical sensors for NO and NO2 for measuring air quality was determined over a longer operating period. The performance of NO sensors remained reliable for more than 18 months. However, the NO2 sensors showed decreasing performance over time. During deployment, we found that the NO2 sensors can distinguish general pollution levels, but they proved unsuitable for accurate measurements due to significant biases.
Randulph Morales, Jonas Ravelid, Katarina Vinkovic, Piotr Korbeń, Béla Tuzson, Lukas Emmenegger, Huilin Chen, Martina Schmidt, Sebastian Humbel, and Dominik Brunner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2177–2198, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2177-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2177-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Mapping trace gas emission plumes using in situ measurements from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is an emerging and attractive possibility to quantify emissions from localized sources. We performed an extensive controlled-release experiment to develop an optimal quantification method and to determine the related uncertainties under various environmental and sampling conditions. Our approach was successful in quantifying local methane sources from drone-based measurements.
Junlei Zhan, Yongchun Liu, Wei Ma, Xin Zhang, Xuezhong Wang, Fang Bi, Yujie Zhang, Zhenhai Wu, and Hong Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1511–1520, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1511-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1511-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Our study investigated the O3 formation sensitivity in Beijing using a random forest model coupled with the reactivity of volatile organic
compound (VOC) species. Results found that random forest accurately predicted O3 concentration when initial VOCs were considered, and relative importance correlated well with O3 formation potential. The O3 isopleth curves calculated by the random forest model were generally comparable with those calculated by the box model.
Daniel R. Peters, Olalekan A. M. Popoola, Roderic L. Jones, Nicholas A. Martin, Jim Mills, Elizabeth R. Fonseca, Amy Stidworthy, Ella Forsyth, David Carruthers, Megan Dupuy-Todd, Felicia Douglas, Katie Moore, Rishabh U. Shah, Lauren E. Padilla, and Ramón A. Alvarez
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 321–334, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-321-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-321-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present more than 2 years of NO2 pollution measurements from a sensor network in Greater London and compare results to an extensive network of expensive reference-grade monitors. We show the ability of our lower-cost network to generate robust insights about local air pollution. We also show how irregularities in sensor performance lead to some uncertainty in results and demonstrate ways that future users can characterize and mitigate uncertainties to get the most value from sensor data.
Wengang Zhang, Ling Wang, Yang Yu, Guirong Xu, Xiuqing Hu, Zhikang Fu, and Chunguang Cui
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7821–7834, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7821-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7821-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Global precipitable water vapor (PWV) derived from MERSI-II (Medium Resolution Spectral Imager) is compared with PWV from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA). Our results show a good agreement between PWV from MERSI-II and IGRA and that MERSI-II PWV is slightly underestimated on the whole, especially in summer. The bias between MERSI-II and IGRA grows with a larger spatial distance between the footprint of the satellite and the IGRA station, as well as increasing PWV.
Trevor W. Coates, Monzurul Alam, Thomas K. Flesch, and Guillermo Hernandez-Ramirez
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7147–7152, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7147-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7147-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A field study tested two footprint models for calculating surface emissions from downwind flux measurements. Emission rates from a 10 × 10 m synthetic source were estimated with the simple Kormann–Meixner model and a sophisticated Lagrangian stochastic model. Both models underestimated emissions by approximately 30 %, and no statistical differences were observed between the models. Footprint models are critically important for interpreting eddy covariance measurements.
Teles C. Furlani, Patrick R. Veres, Kathryn E. R. Dawe, J. Andrew Neuman, Steven S. Brown, Trevor C. VandenBoer, and Cora J. Young
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5859–5871, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5859-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5859-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study characterized and validated a commercial spectroscopic instrument for the measurement of hydrogen chloride (HCl) in the atmosphere. Near the Earth’s surface, HCl acts as the dominant reservoir for other chlorine-containing reactive chemicals that play an important role in atmospheric chemistry. The properties of HCl make it challenging to measure. This instrument can overcome many of these challenges, enabling reliable HCl measurements.
Marvin Glowania, Franz Rohrer, Hans-Peter Dorn, Andreas Hofzumahaus, Frank Holland, Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Andreas Wahner, and Hendrik Fuchs
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4239–4253, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4239-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4239-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Three instruments that use different techniques to measure gaseous formaldehyde concentrations were compared in experiments in the atmospheric simulation chamber SAPHIR at Forschungszentrum Jülich. The results demonstrated the need to correct the baseline in measurements by instruments that use the Hantzsch reaction or make use of cavity ring-down spectroscopy. After applying corrections, all three methods gave accurate and precise measurements within their specifications.
Attilio Naccarato, Antonella Tassone, Maria Martino, Sacha Moretti, Antonella Macagnano, Emiliano Zampetti, Paolo Papa, Joshua Avossa, Nicola Pirrone, Michelle Nerentorp, John Munthe, Ingvar Wängberg, Geoff W. Stupple, Carl P. J. Mitchell, Adam R. Martin, Alexandra Steffen, Diana Babi, Eric M. Prestbo, Francesca Sprovieri, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3657–3672, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3657-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3657-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Mercury monitoring in support of the Minamata Convention requires effective and reliable analytical tools. Passive sampling is a promising approach for creating a sustainable long-term network for atmospheric mercury with improved spatial resolution and global coverage. In this study the analytical performance of three passive air samplers (CNR-PAS, IVL-PAS, and MerPAS) was assessed over extended deployment periods and the accuracy of concentrations was judged by comparison with active sampling.
Mei Bai, José I. Velazco, Trevor W. Coates, Frances A. Phillips, Thomas K. Flesch, Julian Hill, David G. Mayer, Nigel W. Tomkins, Roger S. Hegarty, and Deli Chen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3469–3479, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3469-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3469-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The development and validation of management practices to mitigate methane (CH4) emissions from livestock require accurate emission measurements. We compared the inverse dispersion modelling (IDM) and tracer-ratio techniques to measure CH4 emissions from cattle. Both measurements agreed well but were higher than IPCC estimates. We suggest that the IDM approach can provide an accurate method of estimating cattle emissions, and IPCC estimates may have larger uncertainties.
Yuan You, Ralf M. Staebler, Samar G. Moussa, James Beck, and Richard L. Mittermeier
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1879–1892, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1879-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1879-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands can be significant sources of methane, an important greenhouse gas. This paper describes a 1-month study conducted in 2017 to measure methane emissions from a pond using a variety of micrometeorological flux methods and demonstrates some advantages of these methods over flux chambers.
Christoph Häni, Marcel Bühler, Albrecht Neftel, Christof Ammann, and Thomas Kupper
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1733–1741, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1733-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1733-2021, 2021
Seth Kutikoff, Xiaomao Lin, Steven R. Evett, Prasanna Gowda, David Brauer, Jerry Moorhead, Gary Marek, Paul Colaizzi, Robert Aiken, Liukang Xu, and Clenton Owensby
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1253–1266, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1253-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1253-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Fast-response infrared gas sensors have been used over 3 decades for long-term monitoring of water vapor fluxes. As optically improved infrared gas sensors are newly employed, we evaluated the performance of water vapor density and water vapor flux from three generations of infrared gas sensors in Bushland, Texas, USA. From our experiments, fluxes from the old sensors were best representative of evapotranspiration based on a world-class lysimeter reference measurement.
Yuan You, Samar G. Moussa, Lucas Zhang, Long Fu, James Beck, and Ralf M. Staebler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 945–959, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-945-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-945-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands represent an insufficiently characterized source of fugitive emissions of pollutants to the atmosphere. In this study, a novel approach of using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer along with measurements of atmospheric turbulence is shown to present a practical, non-intrusive method of quantifying emission rates for ammonia, alkanes, and methane. Results from a 1-month field study are presented and discussed.
Ravi Sahu, Ayush Nagal, Kuldeep Kumar Dixit, Harshavardhan Unnibhavi, Srikanth Mantravadi, Srijith Nair, Yogesh Simmhan, Brijesh Mishra, Rajesh Zele, Ronak Sutaria, Vidyanand Motiram Motghare, Purushottam Kar, and Sachchida Nand Tripathi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 37–52, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-37-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-37-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A unique feature of our low-cost sensor deployment is a swap-out experiment wherein four of the six sensors were relocated to different sites in the two phases. The swap-out experiment is crucial in investigating the efficacy of calibration models when applied to weather and air quality conditions vastly different from those present during calibration. We developed a novel local calibration algorithm based on metric learning that offers stable and accurate calibration performance.
Michal Vojtisek-Lom, Alessandro A. Zardini, Martin Pechout, Lubos Dittrich, Fausto Forni, François Montigny, Massimo Carriero, Barouch Giechaskiel, and Giorgio Martini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5827–5843, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5827-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5827-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The feasibility of monitoring on-road emissions from small motorcycles with two highly compact portable emissions monitoring systems was evaluated on three motorcycles, with positive results. Mass emissions measured on the road were consistent among repeated runs, with differences between laboratory and on-road tests much larger than those between portable and laboratory systems, which were, on the average, within units of percent over standard test cycles.
Xiaoyu Sun, Minzheng Duan, Yang Gao, Rui Han, Denghui Ji, Wenxing Zhang, Nong Chen, Xiangao Xia, Hailei Liu, and Yanfeng Huo
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3595–3607, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3595-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3595-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The accurate measurement of greenhouse gases and their vertical distribution in the atmosphere is significant to the study of climate change and satellite remote sensing. Carbon dioxide and methane between 0.6 and 7 km were measured by the aircraft King Air 350ER in Jiansanjiang, northeast China, on 7–11 August 2018. The profiles show strong variation with the altitude and time, so the vertical structure of gases should be taken into account in the current satellite retrieval algorithm.
Paul A. Solomon, Dena Vallano, Melissa Lunden, Brian LaFranchi, Charles L. Blanchard, and Stephanie L. Shaw
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3277–3301, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3277-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3277-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Analyzing street-level air pollutants (2016–2017), this assessment indicates that mobile measurement is precise and accurate (5 % to 25 % bias) relative to regulatory sites, with higher spatial resolution. Collocated sensor measurements in California showed differences less than 20 %, suggesting that greater differences represent spatial variability. Mobile data confirm regulatory-site spatial representation and that pollutant levels can also be 6 to 8 times higher just blocks apart.
Christian Juncher Jørgensen, Jacob Mønster, Karsten Fuglsang, and Jesper Riis Christiansen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3319–3328, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3319-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3319-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Recent discoveries have shown large emissions of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere from meltwater at the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Low-cost and low-power gas sensor technology offers great potential to supplement CH4 measurements using very expensive reference analyzers under harsh and remote conditions. In this paper we evaluate the in situ performance at the GrIS of a low-cost CH4 sensor to a state-of-the-art analyzer and find very excellent agreement between the two methods.
Lilian Joly, Olivier Coopmann, Vincent Guidard, Thomas Decarpenterie, Nicolas Dumelié, Julien Cousin, Jérémie Burgalat, Nicolas Chauvin, Grégory Albora, Rabih Maamary, Zineb Miftah El Khair, Diane Tzanos, Joël Barrié, Éric Moulin, Patrick Aressy, and Anne Belleudy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3099–3118, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3099-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3099-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This article presents an instrument weighing less than 3 kg for accurate and rapid measurement of greenhouse gases between 0 and 30 km altitude using a meteorological balloon. This article shows the interest of these measurements for the validation of simulations of infrared satellite observations.
Jonathan Elsey, Marc D. Coleman, Tom D. Gardiner, Kaah P. Menang, and Keith P. Shine
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2335–2361, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2335-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2335-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Water vapour is an important component in trying to understand the flows of energy between the Sun and Earth, since it is opaque to radiation emitted by both the surface and the Sun. In this paper, we study how it absorbs sunlight by way of its
continuum, a property which is poorly understood and with few measurements. Our results indicate that this continuum absorption may be more significant than previously thought, potentially impacting satellite observations and climate studies.
Claudia Grossi, Scott D. Chambers, Olivier Llido, Felix R. Vogel, Victor Kazan, Alessandro Capuana, Sylvester Werczynski, Roger Curcoll, Marc Delmotte, Arturo Vargas, Josep-Anton Morguí, Ingeborg Levin, and Michel Ramonet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2241–2255, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2241-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2241-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The sustainable support of radon metrology at the environmental level offers new scientific possibilities for the quantification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the determination of their source terms as well as for the identification of radioactive sources for the assessment of radiation exposure. This study helps to harmonize the techniques commonly used for atmospheric radon and radon progeny activity concentration measurements.
Cheng-Hsien Lin, Richard H. Grant, Albert J. Heber, and Cliff T. Johnston
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2001–2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2001-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2001-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Gas quantification using the open-path Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (OP-FTIR) is subject to interferences of environmental variables, leading to errors in gas concentration calculations. This study investigated the effects of ambient water vapour content, temperature, path lengths, and wind speed on the quantification of N2O and CO2 concentrations, which can help the OP-FTIR users to avoid these errors and improve the precision and accuracy of the atmospheric gas quantification.
Rachel Edie, Anna M. Robertson, Robert A. Field, Jeffrey Soltis, Dustin A. Snare, Daniel Zimmerle, Clay S. Bell, Timothy L. Vaughn, and Shane M. Murphy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 341–353, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-341-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-341-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Ground-based measurements of emissions from oil and natural gas production are important for understanding emission distributions and improving emission inventories. Here, measurement technique Other Test Method 33A (OTM 33A) is validated through several test releases staged at the Methane Emissions Technology Evaluation Center. These tests suggest OTM 33A has no inherent bias and that a group of OTM measurements is within 5 % of the known mean emission rate.
Zheng Xu, Yuliang Liu, Wei Nie, Peng Sun, Xuguang Chi, and Aijun Ding
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6737–6748, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6737-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6737-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluated the performance of HONO measurement by a wet-denuder--ion0chromatography system (WD/IC, MARGA). We found significant artificial HONO formed from the reaction of NO2 oxidizing SO2 in the denuder solution. High ambient NH3 would elevate the pH of the denuder solution and promote the overestimation of HONO. A method was established to correct the HONO measurement by WD/IC instruments.
Cited articles
AECOM Canada Ltd.: Area Fugitive Emission Measurements of Methane & Carbon Dioxide: Synthesis and Assessment Report, prepared for CNRL, available at: https://eralberta.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AECOM-Appendix-for-FINAL-OUTCOMES-REPORT-on-Area_Fugitive_Emission_Measurements.pdf, (last access: 11 January 2022), 2021.
AEP: Quantification of Area Fugitive Emissions at Oil Sands Mines, version
2.1, Environment and Parks, Government of Alberta, https://open.alberta.ca/publications/9781460145814 (last access: March
2021), September 2019.
Alberta Energy Regulator:
2021 Statistical Reports ST39 2020, available at: https://www.aer.ca/providing-information/data-and-reports/statistical-reports/st39,
last access: 7 July 2021.
Baray, S., Darlington, A., Gordon, M., Hayden, K. L., Leithead, A., Li, S.-M., Liu, P. S. K., Mittermeier, R. L., Moussa, S. G., O'Brien, J., Staebler, R., Wolde, M., Worthy, D., and McLaren, R.: Quantification of methane sources in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta by aircraft mass balance, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 7361–7378, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7361-2018, 2018.
Bari, M. A. and Kindzierski, W. B.: Ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in
communities of the Athabasca
oil sands region: sources and screening health risk assessment, Environ.
Pollut., 235, 602-661, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.12.065, 2018.
Benjamin, S. G., Weygandt, S. S., Brown, J. M., Hu, M., Alexander, C. R.,
Smirnova, T. G., Olson, J. B., James, E. P., Dowell, D. C., Grell, G. A., Lin,
H., Peckham, S. E., Smith, T. L., Moninger, W. R., Kenyon, J. S., and Manikin,
G. S.: A North American Hourly Assimilation and Model Forecast Cycle: The
Rapid Refresh, Mon. Weather Rev., 144, 1669–1694,
https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-15-0242.1, 2016.
Blakley, C., Carman, C., Korose, C., Luman, D., Zimmerman, J., Frish, M.,
Dobler, J., Blume, N., and Zaccheo, S.: Application of emerging monitoring
techniques at the Illinois Basin – Decatur Project, Int. J. Greenh. Gas
Con., 103, 103188, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2020.103188, 2020.
Bolinius, D. J., Jahnke, A., and MacLeod, M.: Comparison of eddy covariance and modified Bowen ratio methods for measuring gas fluxes and implications for measuring fluxes of persistent organic pollutants, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5315–5322, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5315-2016, 2016.
Burba, G.: Eddy covariance method for scientific, industrial, agricultural,
and regulatory applications, LI-COR, Inc., Lincoln, Nebraska, ISBN
978-0-615-76827-4, 2013.
Burkus, Z., Wheler, J., and Pletcher, S.: GHG Emissions from Oil Sands Tailings Ponds: Overview and Modelling Based on Fermentable Substrates. Part I: Review of the Tailings Ponds Facts and Practices, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, https://doi.org/10.7939/R3F188 (last access: 11 January 2022), 2014.
Canada's Energy Future 2017 Supplement: Oil Sands Production, available at: https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/canada-energy-future/2017-oilsands/index.html, last access: 11 January 2022.
Chowdhury, B., Karamchandani, P. K., Sykes, R. I., Henn, D. S., and Knipping, E.:
Reactive puff model SCICHEM: Model enhancements and performance studies,
Atmos. Environ., 117, 242–258, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.07.012, 2015.
Clough, S. A., Shephard, M. W., Mlawer, E. J., Delamere, J. S., Iacona, M. J.,
Cady-Pereira, K., Boukabara, S., and Brown, P. D.: Atmospheric radiative transfer
modeling: a summary of the AER codes, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 91,
233–244, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2004.05.058, 2005.
CNRL 2019 end-of-year results, available at: https://www.cnrl.com/upload/media_element/1281/02/0305_q419-front-end.pdf, last access: 11 January 2022.
CNRL Horizon 2010 oil sands production, available at: https://www.cnrl.com/upload/media_element/369/02/0106_horizon-oil-sands-production.pdf, last access: 11 January 2022.
Denmead, O. T.: Approaches to measuring fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide between landscapes and the atmosphere, Plant Soil, 309, 5–24, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9599-z, 2008.
Dobler, J. T., Zaccheo, T. S., Blume, N., Braun, M., Botos, C., and Pernini, T. G.:
Spatial mapping of greenhouse gases using laser absorption spectrometers at
local scales of interest, Proc. SPIE 9645, Lidar Technologies, Techniques,
and Measurements for Atmospheric Remote Sensing XI, Toulouse, France, 20 October
2015, 96450K, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2197713, 2015.
Dobler, J. T., Zaccheo, T. S., Pernini, T. G., Blume, N., Broquet, G., Vogel,
F., Ramonet, M., Braun, M., Staufer, J., Ciais, P., and Botos, C.: Demonstration
of spatial greenhouse gas mapping using laser absorption spectrometers on
local scales, J. Appl. Remote Sens., 11, 014002,
https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.11.014002, 2017.
Englander, J. G., Bharadwaj, S., and Brandt, A. R.: Historical trends in
greenhouse gas emissions of Alberta oil sands (1970–2010), Environ. Res.
Lett., 8, 044036, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/044036, 2013.
Erkkilä, K.-M., Ojala, A., Bastviken, D., Biermann, T., Heiskanen, J. J., Lindroth, A., Peltola, O., Rantakari, M., Vesala, T., and Mammarella, I.: Methane and carbon dioxide fluxes over a lake: comparison between eddy covariance, floating chambers and boundary layer method, Biogeosciences, 15, 429–445, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-429-2018, 2018.
Flesch, T. K. and Wilson, J. D.: Estimating Tracer Emissions with a Backward
Lagrangian Stochastic Technique, in: Micrometeorology in Agricultural
Systems, edited by: Hatfield, J. L. and Baker, J. M., American Society of
Agronomy, Madison, WI, 513–531, https://doi.org/10.2134/agronmonogr47, 2005.
Flesch, T. K., Wilson, J. D., and Yee, E.: Backward-Time Lagrangian Stochastic
Dispersion Models and Their Application to Estimate Gaseous Emissions, J.
App. Met., 34, 1320–1332,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1995)034<1320:BTLSDM>2.0.CO;2, 1995.
Flesch, T. K., Wilson, J. D., Harper, L. A., Crenna, B. P., and Sharpe, R. R.:
Deducing ground-to-air emissions from observed trace gas concentrations: a
field trial, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 43, 487–502, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(2004)043<0487:DGEFOT>2.0.CO;2, 2004.
Flesch, T. K., Wilson, J. D., Harper, L. A., and Crenna, B. P.: Estimating gas
emissions from a farm with an inverse-dispersion technique, Atmos. Environ.,
39, 4863–4874, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.04.032,
2005.
Gao, Z., Desjardins, R., van Haarlem, R. P., and Flesch, T. K.: Estimating Gas
Emissions from Multiple Sources Using a Backward Lagrangian Stochastic
Model, J. Air Waste Manage. Assoc., 58, 1415–1521, https://doi.org/10.3155/1047-3289.58.11.1415, 2008.
Gholson, A. R., Albritton, J. R., Jayanty, R. K. M., Knoll, J. E., and Midgett, M. R.:
Evaluation of an enclosure method for measuring emissions of volatile
organic-compounds from quiescent liquid surfaces, Environ. Sci.
Technol., 25, 519–524,
https://doi.org/10.1021/es00015a021, 1991.
Gordon, M., Li, S.-M., Staebler, R., Darlington, A., Hayden, K., O'Brien, J., and Wolde, M.: Determining air pollutant emission rates based on mass balance using airborne measurement data over the Alberta oil sands operations, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3745–3765, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3745-2015, 2015.
Government of
Canada, Water Office, https://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/, last
access: 11 January 2022.
Hossner, L. R. and Hons, F. M.: Reclamation of Mine Tailings, in: Soil Restoration, edited by: Lal, R. and Stewart,
B. A., Advances in Soil Science, vol. 17, Springer, New
York, NY,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2820-2_10, 1992.
Hu, N., Flesch, T. K., Wilson, J. D., Baron, V. S., and Basarab, J. A.: Refining
an inverse dispersion method to quantify gas sources on rolling terrain,
Agric. For. Meteor., 225, 1–7,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2016.05.007, 2016.
Hubbard, S. M., Pemberton, G., and Howard, E. A.: Regional geology and
sedimentology of the basal Cretaceous Peace River Oil Sands deposit,
north-central Alberta, B. Can. Petrol. Geol., 47,
270–297, 1999.
Karion, A., Seeney, C., Petron, G., Frost, G., Hardesty, R. M., Kofler, J.,
Miller, B. R., Newberger, T., Wolter, S., Banta, R., Brewer, A., Dlugokencky,
E., Lang, P., Montzka, S. A., Schnell, R., Tans, P., Trainer, M., Zamora, R.,
and Conley, S.: Methane emissions estimate from airborne measurements over a
western United States natural gas field, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 1–5,
https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50811, 2013.
Karion, A., Sweeney, C., Kort, E. A., Shepson, P. B., Brewer, A., Cambaliza,
M., Conley, S. A., Davis, K., Deng, A., Hardesty, M., Herndon, S. C., Lauvaux,
T., Lavoie, T., Lyon, D., Newberger, T., Petron, G., Rella, C., Smith, M.,
Wolter, S., Yacovitch, T. I., and Tans, P.: Aircraft-Based Estimate of Total
Methane Emissions from the Barnett
Shale Region, Environ. Sci. Technol., 49, 8124–8131,https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b00217, 2015.
Kia, S., Flesch, T. K., Freeman, B. S., and Aliabadi, A. A.: Atmospheric transport
over open-pit mines: The effects of thermal stability and mine depth, J.
Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 214, 104677, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2021.104677, 2021.
Klenbusch, M.: Measurement of Gaseous Emissions Rates from Land Surfaces
Using an Emission Isolation Flux Chamber, User's Guide, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/8-86/008, 1986.
Lavoie, T. N., Shepson, P. B., Cambaliza, M. O. L., Stirm, B. H., Karion, A.,
Sweeney, C., Yacovitch, T. I., Herndon, S. C., Lan, X., and Lyon, D.:
Aircraft-Based Measurements of Point Source Methane Emissions in the Barnett
Shale Basin,
Environ. Sci. Technol., 49, 7904–7913, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b00410, 2015.
Lian, J., Bréon, F.-M., Broquet, G., Zaccheo, T. S., Dobler, J., Ramonet, M., Staufer, J., Santaren, D., Xueref-Remy, I., and Ciais, P.: Analysis of temporal and spatial variability of atmospheric CO2 concentration within Paris from the GreenLITE™ laser imaging experiment, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 13809–13825, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13809-2019, 2019.
Liggio, J., Li, S.-M., Staebler, R. M., Hayden, K., Darlington, A.,
Mittermeier, R. L., O'Brien, J., McLaren, R., Wolde, M., Worthy, D., and Vogel,
F.: Measured Canadian oil sands CO2 emissions are higher than
estimates made using internationally recommended methods, Nat. Commun.,
10, 1863, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09714-9, 2019.
Meyers, T. P., Hall, M. E., Lindberg, S. E., and Kim, K.: Use of the
modified bowen-ratio technique to measure
fluxes of trace gases, Atmos. Environ., 30, 3321–3329, https://doi.org/10.1016/1352-2310(96)00082-9, 1996.
Mossop, G. D.: Geology of the Athabasca Oil Sands, Science, 27,
145–152, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.207.4427.145, 1980
Nahian, M. R., Nazem, A., Nambiar, M. K., Byerlay, R., Mahmud, S., Seguin,
A. M., Robe, F. R., Revenhill, J., and Aliabadi, A. A.: Complex Meteorology over a
Complex Mining Facility: Assessment of Topography, Land Use, and Grid
Spacing Modifications in WRF, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 59, 769–789,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-19-0213.1, 2020.
Nix, P. G. and Martin, R. W.: Detoxification and reclamation of Suncor's oil sand
tailings ponds, Environ. Toxic. Water, 7, 171–188, https://doi.org/10.1002/tox.2530070208, 1992.
NRCan (Natural Resources Canada):
Canadian digital elevation model, 1945–2011, https://open.canada.ca/data/dataset/7f245e4d-76c2-4caa-951a-45d1d2051333,
last access: 11 January 2022), 2016.
Peischl, J., Ryerson, T. B., Aikin, K. C., de Gouw, J. A., Gilman, J. B.,
Holloway, J. S., Lerner, B. M., Nadkarni, R., Neuman, J. A., Trainer, M.,
Warneke, C., and Parrish, D. D.: Quantifying atmospheric methane emissions from
the Haynesville, Fayetteville, and northeastern Marcellus shale gas
production regions, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 120, 2119–2139,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD022697, 2015.
Peischl, J., Karion, A., Sweeney, C., Kort, E. A., Smith, M. L., Brandt, A. R.,
Yeskoo, T., Aikin, K. C., Conley, S. A., Gvakharia, A., Trainer, M., Wolter,
S., and Ryerson, T. B.: Quantifying atmospheric methane emissions from oil and
natural gas production in the Bakken shale region of North Dakota, J.
Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 121, 6101–6111, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024631, 2016.
Pétron, G., Karion, A., Sweeney, C., Miller, B. R., Montzka, S. A., Frost,
G. J., Trainer, M., Tans, P., Andrews, A., Kofler, J., Helmig, D., Guenther,
D., Dlugokencky, E., Lang, P., Newberger, T., Wolter, S., Hall, B., Novelli,
P., Brewer, A., Conley, S., Hardesty, M., Banta, R., White, A., Noone, D.,
Wolfe, D., and Schnell, R.: A new look at methane and nonmethane hydrocarbon
emissions from oil and natural gas operations in the Colorado
Denver-Julesburg Basin, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 119, 6836–6852, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD021272, 2014.
Podgrajsek, E., Sahlee, E., Bastviken, D., Natchimuthu, S., Kljun, N., Chmiel, H. E., Klemedtsson, L., and Rutgersson, A.: Methane fluxes from a small boreal lake measured with the eddy covariance method, Limnol. Oceanogr., 61, S41–S50, https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10245, 2016.
Pumpanen, J., Kolari, P., IIvesniemi, H., Minkkinen, K., Vesala, T.,
Niinisto, S., Lohila, A., Larmola, T., Morero, M., Pihlatie, M., Janssens,
I., Yuste, J. C., Grunzweig, J. M., Reth, S., Subke, J.-A., Savage, K., Kutsch,
W., Ostreng, G., Ziegler, W., Anthoni, P., Lindroth, A., and Hari, P.: Comparison
of different chamber techniques for measuring soil CO2 efflux, Agr. Forest
Meteorol., 23, 159–176,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2003.12.001, 2004.
Rothman, L. S, Gordon, I. E., Barbe, A., Benner, D. C., Bernath, P. F., Birk, M.,
Boudon, V., Brown, L. R., Campargue, A., Champion, J.-P., Chance, K.,
Coudert, L. H., Dana, V., Devi, V. M., Fally, S., Flaud, J.-M., Gamache, R. R.,
Goldman, A., Jacquemart, D., Kleiner, I., Lacome, N., Lafferty, W. J.,
Mandin, J.-Y., Massie, S. T., Mikhailenko, S. N., Miller, C. E.,
Moazzen-Ahmadi, N., Naumenko, O. V., Nikitin, A. V., Orphal, J., Perevalov,
V. I., Perrin, A., Predoi-Cross, A., Rinsland, C. P., Rotger, M., Simeckova,
M., Smith, M. A. H. Sung, K., Tashkun, S. A., Tennyson, J., Toth, R. A.,
Vandaele, A. C., and Vander Auwera, J.: The HITRAN 2008 molecular spectroscopic
database, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 110, 533–572, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2009.02.013, 2009.
Small, C. C., Cho, S., Hashisho, Z., and Ulrich, A. C.: Emissions from oil sands
tailings ponds: Review of tailings pond parameters and emission estimates,
J. Petrol. Sci. Eng., 127, 490–501,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2014.11.020, 2015.
Sykes, R. I. and Gabruk, R. S.: A Second-Order Closure Model for the Effect of
Averaging Time on Turbulent Plume Dispersion, J. Appl. Meteor., 36,
1038–1045, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1997)036<1038:ASOCMF>2.0.CO;2, 1997.
Sykes, R. I., Lewellen, W. S., and Parker, S. F.: A Gaussian plume model of
atmospheric dispersion based on second-order closure, J. Climate Appl.
Meteor., 25, 322–331,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1986)025<0322:AGPMOA>2.0.CO;2, 1986.
Todd, R. W., Cole, N. A., Harper, L. A., and Flesch, T. K.: Flux-Gradient Estimates
of Ammonia Emissions from Beef Cattle Feedyard Pens, Proc. International
Symposium on Air Quality and Waste Management for Agriculture, Broomfield,
CO, 16 September 2007.
Tong, X., Zhang, G., Wang, Z., and Wen, Z.: Distribution and potential of global
oil and gas resources, Petrol. Explor. Dev., 45, 779–789, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1876-3804(18)30081-8, 2018.
Vesala, T., Jarvi, L., Launiained, S., Sogachev, A., Rannik, U., Mammarella,
I., Ivola, E. S., Keronen, P., Rinne, J., Riikonen, A., and Nikinmaa, E.:
Surface–atmosphere interactions over complex urban terrain in Helsinki,
Finland, Tellus B, 60, 188–199, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2007.00312.x, 2008.
Vigrass, L. W.: Geology of Canadian Heavy Oil Sands, AAPG Bull., 52,
1984–1999, https://doi.org/10.1306/5D25C545-16C1-11D7-8645000102C1865D, 1968.
Watremez, X., Marble, A., Baron, T., Marcarian, X., Dubucq, D., Donnat, L.,
Cazes, L., Foucher, P.-Y., Dano, R., Elie, D., Chamberland, M., Gagnon, J.-P.,
Gay, L. B., Dobler, J., Ostrem, R., Russu, A., Schmidt, M., and Zaouak, O.:
Remote Sensing Technologies For Detecting, Visualizing and Quantifying Gas
Leaks, Soc. Petrol. Eng. International Conference and Exhibition on Health,
Safety, Security, Environment, and Social Responsibility, Abu Dhabi, UAE,
April 2018, https://doi.org/10.2118/190496-MS, 2018.
Wells, P. S.: Long Term In-Situ Behaviour of Oil Sands Fine Tailings in
Suncor's Pond 1A, Proceedings Tailings and Mine Waste Conference, Vancouver,
BC, 6–9 November 2011.
You, Y., Moussa, S. G., Zhang, L., Fu, L., Beck, J., and Staebler, R. M.: Quantifying fugitive gas emissions from an oil sands tailings pond with open-path Fourier transform infrared measurements, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 945–959, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-945-2021, 2021a.
You, Y., Staebler, R. M., Moussa, S. G., Beck, J., and Mittermeier, R. L.: Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1879–1892, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1879-2021, 2021b.
Zaccheo, T. S., Blume, N., Pernini, T., Dobler, J., and Lian, J.: Bias correction of long-path CO2 observations in a complex urban environment for carbon cycle model inter-comparison and data assimilation, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5791–5800, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5791-2019, 2019.
Zhang, L., Cho, S., Hashisho, Z., and Brown, C.: Quantification of fugitive
emissions from an oil sands tailings pond by eddy covariance, Fuel, 237,
457–464, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2018.09.104, 2019.
Short summary
We demonstrate a novel approach to estimating emissions from oil sands operations that utilizes the GreenLITE™ gas concentration measurement system and an atmospheric model. While deployed at a facility in the Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada, CH4 emissions from a tailings pond were estimated to be 7.2 t/d for July–October 2019, and 5.1 t/d for March–July 2020. CH4 emissions from an open-pit mine were estimated to be 24.6 t/d for September–October 2019.
We demonstrate a novel approach to estimating emissions from oil sands operations that utilizes...
